Pretty much every hair dye I've ever seen has instructions that clearly state the risk of allergic reaction. Even if you've used it N times before, it can cause a reaction on the N+1 time.

If you want to do some original reporting on this (as opposed to say, telling us what Marx would have said about it), go the store and buy it. Open the box and read the instructions. Does it include a big warning about doing a 48-hour skin test beforehand with each and every use? Did the poor woman follow directions and do a skin test?

I'm pretty sure the label of the product probably stats something about doing a patch test before applying it all over your dome.

Oh, c'mon. Sure, the instructions say to patch test for allergic reaction - manifest as irritation, say, or a skin rash. Would any reasonable person consider death a possible side effect of freakin' hair dye?

I'm curious about what particular substance the hair dye contained that was so unique she never encountered it before in any other product. Hm?

The real question remains: What would Marx have said?

It's her choice. No one made her do it.

The did sell a potentially lethal coloring product. They know they sell a potentially lethal coloring product. Which is why, as @1 points out, the label states to perform a 48-hour skin test prior to each and every use. Don't know if this gets 'em out of all potential liability claims but I'll wager that L'Oreal will write a check.

sounds like a Law & Order episode i just saw... goes to show that TV and movies pave the way for real events...

Yeah, I have to agree with the above posts. All of the hair products always say to do a skin test first. I don't know how many people actually do the skin test first though. I feel really bad for the lady and her family, but I don't know that the company can be held liable. It is like going after a company for killing someone with a peanut allergy after a label clearly states "may contain peanut parts." Tragic situation all around. :(

I've seen that warning too, but always assumed it warned against getting a rash all over my scalp. I don't recall ever seeing a warning that an allergic reaction to hair dye could cause death.

Is that a picture of his mom? Or just some random hot chick you've been dieing for an excuse to post a picture of?

Charles,

A woman dyeing her hair black is not looking for "good hair". That is a term that refers to texture and length. I'm not defending in anyway the use of these words to mean "long straight hair" but that's what it means and hair color isn't involved. Your not American-born roots really show sometimes.

L'Oreal does have a reputation for racism in its advertising but your post doesn't as others mention, note whether the allergy inducing ingredient was only in the Dark and Lovely brand or in all L'Oreal dye products.

It's still tragic that this woman died prematurely.

Meggers-- this is outside of my expertise (try "Dear Science"), but the problem isn't necessarily that she had never encountered the dye before. The problem was more likely that it resembled a natural substance that she had encountered before. Familiarity can lead to contempt.

For some odd reason nobody understands, her immune system was primed to go stark raving gonzo the next time it saw a particular sequence of amino acids.

Or maybe not the next time... maybe she'd already used the dye. Her white blood cells encountered it in the scalp of her pores that night and one particular bit of peptide vaguely resembled a salad that had given her food poisoning once. So over the next few weeks, antibodies where created to bind to the dye.

Whatever caused it, it was just a horrible chain of very rare circumstances.

Every substance in the world could possibly cause a severe allergic reaction in someone and kill them. At least that that's what my understanding of allergies and anaphylaxis has been. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Does anyone else find it odd that the newspaper described the woman waiting for the hair dye to "kick in"? It's not like she took a hit of acid. Although, the outcome suggests that acid may in fact have been far more pleasant.

I wonder how long it will take until this ends up Snopes...

eclexia: Aha, point taken! You reminded me of the connection between childhood exposure to peanut products in skin care products and subsequent peanut allergies.

It seems as if there should be more to the story - some factor that was either not discovered or not reported.

Hrm.